The 2012, 2013, and 2015 versions of the Tesla Model S all have "much-worse-than-average" reliability, according to the magazine.

Despite heaping praise on the Model S when it was new, Consumer Reports last year pulled its coveted "recommended" rating for the car, owing to that increasing evidence of that below-average reliability.

2014 BMW i3 (German-market version), Amsterdam, Oct 2013

Another used electric car to avoid is the 2013 Nissan Leaf, staffers say.

This is an example of how a car with generally good reliability can still have a bad model year or two.